Target Setting In Reception

[Guest]

I wonder if anyone can help.

My school is wanting reception to start sharing literacy and numeracy targets with our children in a similar way to the rest of the school. The Head argues that children should be aware of their what they need to accomplish next, and it will provide continunity for the children as they progress through the school. The reception team have been asked to suggest methods of how we could start to share targets with our children, but we are a bit stumped. I personally don't really approve of this idea, as the children are so young and I don't feel that target setting in this manner is appropriate. However, we have been told that we have no choice in this, so I was wondering if anyone else has to do something similar in their schools, and if so, what do you do? If you don't do it, does anyone have any ideas about how we could set targets for literacy and numeracy which the children will take on board, whilst at the same time not worrying them too much that they have to reach a certain target or not progress?

 

Thank you!

[garrison]

target setting for 4 year olds - so so wrong!!!!

not helpful I know but I despair when I hear things like this - does your head know anything about they EYFS and learning through play?

If I was forced to target I would deliberately make it somthing really easy like writing their name

[Guest LornaW]

I wonder if anyone can help.

My school is wanting reception to start sharing literacy and numeracy targets with our children in a similar way to the rest of the school. The Head argues that children should be aware of their what they need to accomplish next, and it will provide continunity for the children as they progress through the school. The reception team have been asked to suggest methods of how we could start to share targets with our children, but we are a bit stumped. I personally don't really approve of this idea, as the children are so young and I don't feel that target setting in this manner is appropriate. However, we have been told that we have no choice in this, so I was wondering if anyone else has to do something similar in their schools, and if so, what do you do? If you don't do it, does anyone have any ideas about how we could set targets for literacy and numeracy which the children will take on board, whilst at the same time not worrying them too much that they have to reach a certain target or not progress?

 

Thank you!

 

 

Target setting with reception is so inappropriate I would ask your local LA EY adviser to come in and chat with you. Your HT has no understanding of EYFS practice to ask this of you! Lit and Num have no more weighting in EYFS tyhan the other areas so all areas are important.

 

I have posted in another post about High/Scope and the one thing for me that Plan/Do/Review does is enable children to reflect on thier work in child initiated time which builds up as they cgo through their school career enabling them to apply these skills to other areas of the curriculum when they are ready to do so but NOT in reception.

 

Of course you talk to them about their learning look at this info from Iram Siraj Blatchford on shared sustained thinking:-

 

Tuning in: listening carefully to what is being said, observing body language and what the child is doing.

• Showing genuine interest: giving their whole attention to the child, maintaining eye contact, affirming, smiling, nodding.

• Respecting children’s own decisions and choices by inviting children to elaborate: saying things like ‘I really want to know more about this’ and listening and engaging in the response.

• Re-capping: ‘So you think that … ’

• Offering the adult’s own experience: ‘I like to listen to music when I cook supper at home.’

• Clarifying ideas: ‘Right Darren, so you think that this stone will melt if I boil it in water?’

• Suggesting: ‘You might like to try doing it this way.’

• Reminding: ‘Don’t forget that you said that this stone will melt if I boil it.’

• Using encouragement to further thinking: ‘You have really thought hard about where to put this door in the palace – where will you put the windows?’

• Offering an alternative viewpoint: ‘Maybe Goldilocks wasn’t naughty when she ate the porridge?’

• Speculating: ‘Do you think the three bears would have liked Goldilocks to come to live with them as their friend?’

• Reciprocating: ‘Thank goodness that you were wearing wellington boots when you jumped in those puddles Kwame. Look at my feet, they are soaking wet!’

• Asking open questions: ‘How did you … ?’ ‘Why does this ... ?’ ‘What happens next?’ ‘What do you think?’ ‘I wonder what would happen if … ?’

• Modelling thinking: ‘I have to think hard about what I do this evening. I need to take my dog to the vet because he has a sore foot, take my library books back to the library and buy some food for dinner tonight. But I just won’t have

time to do all of these things.’

Using positive questioning

• ‘I don’t know, what do you think?’

• ‘That’s an interesting idea.’

• ‘I like what you have done there.’

• ‘Have you seen what X has done – why?’

• ‘I wondered why you had … ?’

• ‘I’ve never thought about that before.’

• ‘You’ve really made me think.’

• ‘What would happen if we did … ?’

Making-sense words

• I think

• I agree

• I imagine

• I disagree

• I like

• I don’t like

• I wonder

 

Blind your HT with these ideas (which I am sure you will find you use all the time without even thinking about it in your EY class) and then see if she wants you to share LO and set targets!

 

Good luck!

 

Lorna

[Guest]

I'm afraid I have to set targets with the children in my reception class. My head is an ex reception teacher and so knows eyfs very well but still insists we have them, she believes it important that all children know what they need to do next in their learning even the youngest children. I break them in really gently and hold off giving them targets until after Christmas (after all there are so many other things they need to get to grips with that are far more important) I then talk with each child and give them a personal target something easy to remember and achieve which is celebrated. I have a target board with frogs on lily pads and when they achieve what is on their target we move their frog on the lily pad. The children really love this. By Easter they have a CLL target and a number target which I have talked through with each child. The only way I have found to make this work with such young children is if I can give them very simple targets which I can also send home and which parents can practice with them- the children must be aware of what they need to do otherwise the whole exercise is pointless! So it could be 'I can write my name' and I would send home advice and correct letter formation sheets for parents to practice or 'I can put numbers to 10 in order' and again I would send some ideas for activities. I have to say that although my gut instinct is against target setting in such young children, I was asked about it in our recent inspection and the inspector also asked my children about their targets and they were able to explain about their hopping frogs. From my experience of having taught in reception in several schools locally target setting is not unusual in reception!

Deb

[Guest LornaW]

I have to say that although my gut instinct is against target setting in such young children, I was asked about it in our recent inspection and the inspector also asked my children about their targets and they were able to explain about their hopping frogs. From my experience of having taught in reception in several schools locally target setting is not unusual in reception!

Deb

 

I can understand but is it really right? do you give a target for cutting and sticking, running fast, laughing at a story, talking to my firends, sharing with others...I could go on but won't!

 

Lorna

[catma]

I supppose the difficulty is we can rant on about it (which I do, often) but the reality is that this is what teachers are asked to do, like it or not. And if your head directs you then what can you do apart from find a way to do it as closely aligned to EYFS principles as possible or find another job!!

 

Sometimes we just have to do these things.

 

Everyone should know what they are really trying to enable a child to do better.......we don't just wait to see what happens by accident. that's not the point of early educators. So I'd say make it as interactive as , like the example of the frog hopping and keep it simple. Link it to the things in CLLd and PSED or PSRN that you would be focusing on anyway!! you may have those as "targets" but you would also be looking at the whole curriculum -so a "target" for handwriting might be delivered through the PD curriculum for example, or CLLD through creative development. It doesn't necessarily mean a limited curriculum - only if we deliver it that way!!!

[Guest]

I supppose the difficulty is we can rant on about it (which I do, often) but the reality is that this is what teachers are asked to do, like it or not. And if your head directs you then what can you do apart from find a way to do it as closely aligned to EYFS principles as possible or find another job!!

 

So right, there are things as a school which are introduced and I have to do and go along with even if I disagree- target setting is one of those things. The thing that I often think about is that if I don't sow the seeds of these ways of doing things then the children are going to have one hell of a shock in Y1 when they are expected to look at and read their targets every day before commencing their work. When initiatives are brought in like this, then I just try and work out the best way to approach them with this age of children and ask the head how she sees it looking in reception and she's pretty good at giving me ideas if I'm stuck. Other things I have to do that the rest of the school does is have working walls for literacy and numeracy and big writing.

Deb

Edited September 25, 2011 by busybeedeb

[Guest]

If it makes you feel any better I'm having to set a reading and writing target for my nursery children - some of whom have been with me less than 2 weeks - and by the end of this month I have to have them displayed on the wall somewhere! I'm not happy about it but I grit my teeth, smile sweetly and mutter under my breath - there's no changing some policies no matter how ridiculous we think they are!

[Guest Pebble123]

We have to set literacy and maths targets-must,should ,could like the rest of the school.

 

I think its a load of rubbish for 4 year olds to be honest but it has to be done, so I do it, pay very little attention to it and carry on with my day !